Friday, September 09, 2011

Hanson played hundreds of gigs and made multiple records before they
were ever signed. They have a career that has survived a recession, the
age of digital downloads and piracy and viral success.

And still, they somehow found a sense of stasis in the middle of the
ebb and flow of musical stardom. They've released an album every three
or four years since their breakout with Middle of Nowhere,best known as the album that had "Mmmbop" on it.

Perhaps the last of their kind as pre-YouTube prodigies, the brothers
from Tulsa, Oklahoma, had to learn early on that the key to success
during peaks and valleys in one's career is the fan base.

Guitarist Isaac Hanson is more than aware of this and has no qualms
opening up about the Darwinian elements at play in the music business.

"One of the problems [with] label-artist relationships, traditionally,
is that there becomes this certain degree of misunderstanding or
animosity or lack of long-term thinking both on the artist's and on the
label's part," he said. "There are certainly cases where that's not
true, but because of the constant ebb and flow of the record business,
where it is right now, there have been so many constant mergers [that]
it's impossible to keep a long-term focus and a plan."

This was something that delayed the release of the band's "third" album, Underneath.
But Hanson and their fans saw them through the rough patch. The band
has since taken over its own destiny, hoping its fans can appreciate the
complexity of their dynamic.

"As the years go on and you're both the record company
and, in some form or another, management […] it's a complicated career
and all of us want to do more than just be artists if nothing else,"
Hanson said. "If we ever truly entertained the concept (that) we would
stop being a band, stop being artists, I think in some form or another
we'd lose ourselves and lose our souls if we did."

As a band that doesn't really see a new release as a reason to hit the
road, they're at it again. This time, one year removed from the release
of their tenth album. The Musical Ride Tour is a string of dates in
which fans in each city get to vote on an entire album they want to hear
at the show, which will comprise half the set list. Phoenix fans will
be allowed to vote on Hanson.net between Underneath, The Walk and Shout It Out.

"We all realized this was a great opportunity to give power to the fans
in a whole new way and make it an exciting and interesting experience
for everybody," Hanson said. "For example, Middle of Nowhere, the
first album, there are plenty of songs that are not part of every
single night's show. It doesn't mean we don't play a bunch of songs from
Middle of Nowhere, it just means there are a lot that do get
continually left out. You're playing a concert and it's, at most, 24
songs long, you're inevitably picking from a wide array of music."

The band's third record, Underneath, was entangled in record
label red tape for nearly four years before it could be released, Hanson
said, a period that opened the brothers' eyes to certain truths about
the music industry.

"Quality of craftsmanship and making records that are worthwhile is
incredibly important, but the relationship with the fan base that goes
along with it is the kind of thing that will ultimately stand the test
of time," Hanson said. "It's the fuel in between huge smash hits and
people who wouldn't otherwise buy your records. It's the continuous
maintenance that keeps things going no matter what the ups and the downs
of a career is like."

It's never been about whether or not the guys could make music but how they can get the record out.

"I don't know exactly what the future holds, but I think a career is a
challenge no matter what scenario you're in," he said. "If you're at the
top of the world, you're always trying to stay on top of the world and
it's almost impossible to always stay on the top. If you're somewhere in
the middle of the pack, you're always trying to break out a little bit
farther than the next guy, you know? And if you're at the bottom of the
pack, you're the underdog trying to make more noise than the next guy.
There's always a need for hunger, focus, for creative stimulation and
growth and I think that's what we focus on more than anything."

"We joke in the band that it's a business of survival," he said. "It's
not a business of the most talented wins. It's a business of the most
stubborn and most willing to fight wins. It's not an easy business."